The moments that mattered: A wrap-up of the 2018 Tour de France

It was an epic Tour de France with plenty of key moments across the 21 stages. Here's our wrap of an incredible three weeks at this year's Tour.

The podium in Paris.Photo: Getty Images

Geraint Thomas has claimed his maiden Tour de France crown, beating out French hopeful Tom Dumoulin and teammate Chris Froome.

It was an epic race with plenty of defining moments. Here's how it all went down:

Stage 1 - Crash carnage

There was no easing into this year's edition of the Tour, with a crash inside 11km of the finish impacting the general classification contenders. Richie Porte and Adam Yates were the first to be impacted, losing contact with the peloton. Team Sky were well placed with both Froome and Thomas still in the leading bunch, however the former came undone inside 6km, being forced back with Porte and Yates.

Unbelievably it didn't stop there, with Nairo Quintana suffering a mechanical issue and being unable to connect with the trailing group. By the end of the stage, Froome, Porte and Yates had lost 51 seconds to Geraint Thomas and the rest of the peloton that didn't win time bonuses by finishing in the top three, while Quintana was at 1'15". Fernando Gaviria won the stage in a sprint and took the Maillot Jaune.

Stage 2 - Gaviria goes down, Sagan take Green

The carnage continued in Stage 2, with the Yellow Jersey holder Gaviria going down 2km before the finish, leaving Peter Sagan to win the stage. The reigning World Champion would take the lead in both the general and points classification, with the latter not changing hands again for the remainder of the Tour. Luis Leon Sanchez, a rider who many Cadel Evans fans would be familiar with considering the Spaniard's efforts around the time the Aussie was contending, was forced to abandon after crashing.

Stage 3 - BMC win the TTT

There was no rest for the teams, who after battling their way through two stages that ended up being far more difficult than expected, had to fight it out in the team time trial. It was Richie Porte's team, BMC, that claimed the stage, finishing 4" ahead of Team Sky. Porte's teammate, Greg Van Avermaet moved into the general classification lead, while Movistar had a nightmare of a stage, with their top duo of Mikel Landa and Nairo Quintana losing a massive 53 seconds.

Stage 6 - Dumoulin puncture causes headache

We skip forward to Stage 6, which finished on a category three climb. Dan Martin claimed the win, although Richie Porte looked aggressive, attacking at one point and eventually moving into 2nd in general classification. However, the big news was Tom Dumoulin, who suffered a puncture, losing almost a minute to the likes of Porte, Thomas and Froome.

Stage 9 - Cobbles cause chaos

From the moment this route was announced for this year's Tour de France, Stage 9 was marked as a key day. Riders had to navigate 15 sectors of cobblestones in a stage that finished in the famous city of Roubaix. The chaos began before the peloton had even reached the first cobbled sector, with a crash inside the first 10km forcing Yellow Jersey contender Richie Porte to withdraw from the race with a broken collarbone. Rigoberto Uran also hit the ground during the stage, and would eventually lose around 1'30" to the main contenders. The Belgian riders in the field showed their strength over the cobbles, with six competitors from Belgium finishing inside the top 10 for the stage.

Stage 10 - Alaphilippe flexes his muscle

The effort of Tom Dumoulin wasn't the only reason for local fans to get excited this Tour, with Julian Alaphilippe illustrating his eagerness to climb and attack. On Stage 10, the first entry into the Alpes, he dominated, beating 2nd place by around 1'30". It was a statement win that would be followed up later in the Tour but was also potentially a sign of things to come in future years.

Stage 11 - Thomas makes his move

A terrific ride in Stage 11 saw Geraint Thomas not only take the stage win but also the Maillot Jaune. The field had to navigate their way over two Hors Categorie climbs and a Category One finish, with Dumoulin and Froome finishing around 20 seconds behind Thomas. The general classification was clearly shaken up after Stage 11, but the pack of sprinters in the peloton was also thinned out, with Mark Cavendish, Mark Renshaw and Marcel Kittel all forced to abandon the race due to falling outside the time limit.

Stage 12 - The Maillot Jaune creates history

If you were still questioning whether Geraint Thomas was the real deal, what better way for him to convince everyone than by taking out a convincing stage win on Alpe D'Huez. He became not only the first Brit but also the very first yellow jersey holder to win on the famous mountain. Meanwhile, Rigoberto Uran pulled out before the start of the stage and Vincenzo Nibali was forced to withdraw before the following stage after crashing with a motorcycle, he was sitting in fourth place.

Stage 17 - Thomas seals the win

It had been a tough Tour for Nairo Quintana but he finally had something to get excited about, winning Stage 17. The leader of the race, Geraint Thomas, finished 3rd, strengthening his lead over Dumoulin and adding another minute to his lead over teammate Chris Froome. By the time the field had crossed the line, any thought of Froome potentially still winning yet another Tour had almost all but gone, meaning Thomas had practically sealed his maiden TDF victory.

No doubt it was a phenomenal Tour, but perhaps the best result of the past three weeks came from the efforts of Lawson Craddock.

The rider from Houston fractured his shoulder blade on the very first stage of the race, crossing the line with a bloodied face as well. He then decided he would donate $100 for every stage he finished to the Houston velodrome which was impacted by Hurricane Harvey last year.

Remarkably, Craddock finished the race, albeit as the lanterne rouge (lowest placed rider). By the end of the race others had joined him in his fundraising efforts, with the number being in excess of US$192k after the final stage of the Tour.

Lawson Craddock is one of the heroes of this Tour de France. After his crash on stage 1, I couldn't imagine he will start the next day. And still here he is, beating the broken shoulder pain, one day before Paris. Chapeau, monsieur Craddock! 👏👏👏 #TDF2018pic.twitter.com/HMJQSG3lgT